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Burnley 1-2 Newcastle United

Looking ahead to the game, Benitez said: "They are quite strong at home.

"They lost against some of the best teams in the league but still, they are quite strong.

"I was watching the games and they had chances at the beginning – they were pushing.

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"It will be a tough game for sure – it doesn’t matter what they are doing now or what we are doing now.

"I think, obviously, they will try to get three points against us because we are close in the table, but the pressure is more or less similar."

Benitez's side have won their last two encounters in the Premier League after good performances against Watford and AFC Bournemouth.

A loss of momentum has been highlighted as an issue for Newcastle by some pundits.

But Benitez - who has several injuries to assess in the build-up to Monday night's clash - said: "Sometimes when you are doing well the break can be bad timing, and injuries can help you recover at other times.

Rafa Benitez (Image: Newcastle Utd via Getty Images)

"But it is a long distance race, we have been walking, then running and now hopefully we can sprint.

"More than confidence it is the better the mood we were in because we were training well without winning, every time I did a Press conference I was saying that but not winning.

"The players are happier, it would be easier to send the message across when we are winning."